Ignition system fob automobiles



A. C. STOECKIG.

IGNITION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 7, I920. 1,360,696. Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

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PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST 0. STOEGKIG, OE TURTLE LAKE, WISCONSIN.

IGNITION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7

Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

Application filed February 7, 1920. serial No. 356,995.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST C. S'ronoKIG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Turtle Lake, in the county of Barron and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in I nition Systems for Automobiles; and I do ereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and eflicient ignition circuit cut-out device for automatically stopping the sparking action in internal combustion engines of automobiles, by a'certain movement of the throttle valve lever; and to such ends, generally stated, the invention consists of the V novel devices and combinations of devices heneinafter described and defined in the claim. a

Particularly, this invention is applicable to automobiles of the Ford'type, but is capable of more general application. For the purpose of illustration, it will be assumed to be applied to a Ford car. In such a car, whenrunning down hill, it is the common practice tothrow the throttle valve lever to, a position which nearly or quite closes the throttle valve, but in which leakage of gas will keep the engine running lightly, because the sparks continue to be produced in the cylinders. If, however, the sparking action is interrupted atsuch time, the engine will be converted into a pump which will greatly retard the down hill movement of the machine, and this is especially true if the car be thrown into low gear, so that the engine, then operating as a pump, will be driven" at high speed, in respect to the speed of the car traveL' In accordance with my invention, I pro.- vide a circuit 'maker or breaker for the sparking circuit which may be operated by movement of the throttle valve lever, pre erably to a position slightly beyond the po-' sition to whlch it is moved to closethe throttle valve, or to .so nearly close the same that the engine would be running but lightly and .slowly when idle, or disconnected from the traction wheel. r .The invention isillustrated in'the accompanying drawings wherein like. characters indicate like parts throughout the several Views.

Referring to the'drawings: I

Flgure 1 is a view partly in plan and partly in diagram illustrating my invention as applled to the ignition system of a Ford automobile;

-Fig. 2 is a fragmentary planview showing a portion of the lever segment and the switch contact applied thereto in accordance with my inventlon;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4: is a modified 'form of a switch shown in the other views.

Referring first to the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the numeral 5 indicates the cylinder casting, the numeral 6'the spark'plug, the numeral 7 the spark coils, the numeral 8 the timer, the numeral 9 the primary lead and the numeral 10 the secondary lead of the ignition system, such as found in a Ford car. Also, the numeral 11 indicates the magneto, the numeral 12 the cut-out switch, the numeral 13 the battery of the ignition system, the switch 12 being arranged to connect the battery circuit, or thedmagneto circuit, at will, to the primary lea 9.

The numeral 14 indicates the steering wheel, the numeral 15 the lever'latch segment, the numeral 16 the timer lever, and the numeral 17 the throttle lever, these also being as found in the Ford car. The throttle lever 17 is adapted to be moved in an anti-clockwise direction in respect to Fig. 1, as far as indicated by full lines, without springing or excessive pressure, but is adapted to be sprung slightly and moved farther on to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

In one instance, and as illustrated in Figs.

' 1, 2 and 3, I throw the sparking systemv out of action by grounding the magneto through the segment 15 of the steering post back to the framework of the machine, by extending a short circuitinglead 18 from the magneto circuit to a contact screw 19 applied in a block 20 of insulating material rigidly secured by screws, or otherwise, on the lever latch segment 15. The contact screw 19 is so adjusted that when the throttle valve 'lever- 17 is moved to its full line position,

Fig. 1, it will not be quite in engagementwith the contact screw 19. But when'said lever is forced to its dotted line position, it will engage said contact screw and thereby short circuit the magneto, as-stated, and interrupt the spark producing action in the engine, so that the engine will then, if the car be running down hill under its own gravity, be converted into a pump for the purpose stated. Fig. 4 illustrates a modified arrangement in which a normally closed switch is interposed in the main primary lead 9 of the ignition system. This switch comprises normally engaged contacts 21 and presses against the spring 0nd of the cont-act 22 and is yieldingly pressed forward by a spring 25 compressed between the block 23 and-said contact 22. A nut 26 on the rear end of the plunger 24 holds the same from forward displacement. Inthis modification, the forward end or head of the plunger 24 will stand in the position occupied by the projecting end of the contact screw .19, so

that it will be engaged and the primary lead of the ignition circuit opened when the lever 17 is moved from its full line position to its dotted line position in Fig. 1. In either of the described arrangements, the sparking action will be interrupted and stopped as long as the lever 17 is held in its dotted line position, Fig. 1. Thus, converting the .engine, temporarily, into a pump and causing the same to act as a brake or as an auxiliary retarding device to prevent a car from running away or getting out of control in going down steep grades.

What I claim is:

The combination with the ignition system of an automobile and the throttle valve lever thereof, of a switch for throwing the ignition system out of action, the said switch being arranged to be operated by a movement of the throttle valve lever beyond a normally stopped position and into an extreme position causedby applying greater strain to said lever thanrequired to impart the natural movement thereto.

y AUGUST 0. STOECKIG. Witnesses:

HARRY D. KILGORE, EVA E. Kome. 

